Microsoft to allow “Mature” games in European Windows 8 Store

Company reverses policy that led to odd, cross-ocean ratings discrepancies.

Microsoft has reversed a controversial decision that created a strange gap between which games would be allowed on the digital Windows 8 Store in America and which would be allowed on its European counterpart, thanks to a discrepancy in the way those regions' ratings boards handle similar games.

Originally, Microsoft planned to have the Windows 8 Store block games that received an ESRB rating of Adults Only (AO) in the US or a PEGI 18 rating in Europe (such Windows 8 games could still be bought at retail, or from digital services like Steam, but not from Microsoft's official digital store). This plan ended up being much more restrictive on the European version of the store, though, because the top-level 18 rating covers a wide range of games that would only merit a Mature (M) rating in North America. Titles ranging from Dishonored and Doom 3 to Serious Sam 3, Bioshock, and hundreds of others would have been perfectly allowable on the US Windows 8 store, but not in Europe.

Today, Microsoft announced that it would be reversing that decision, allowing PEGI 18 games that also received a Mature rating from the ESRB in its store. Games that receive an AO rating from the ESRB will still be banned from the store in both regions, but very few games merit such a rating, and the ones that do are usually better classified as straight up pornography than real games.

Windows Corporate VP of Web Services Antoine Leblond tells Gizmodo that the new policy won't take effect right away, and that developers may have to wait until December to get their M/18-rated titles on the European Windows 8 Store. We're a bit confused about why such a delay is necessary, but at least this odd discrepancy will be fixed.

36 Reader Comments

Why wave off AO games just because "very few games merit such a rating"? Of course there aren't many, they're already blocked on every console and just about every digital store front available. If you can't sell through anyone who cares about the ESRB/PEGI ratings, why get them in the first place?

Good on Microsoft for reversing a particularly stupid decision, still bad on them for requiring their app store for Metro apps in the first place.

But don't engage in Yellow Journalism, please. The statement "there are few" is fine. My search at the site yielded 35 titles. Blanketing "Fahrenheit" and "GTA" with the descriptor of "pornography" is disingenuous at best, and lazy at worst.

Is any self respecting PC gamer even giving 2 shits about this? This is tantamount to Wal-Mart not selling these kinds of games: who cares? We got Steam, and countless other places to buy our PC games. No one of substance and a working brain could care less.

I happen to be the largest publisher of AO rated games for PCs outside of Japan (I run J-List and we license these games for sale to the tiny market that exists around the world). Of course all the changes and closing of Windows to my customers (RT at least) is of great ongoing concern.

America is filled with uptight prudes who need to ban anything sexual and sensual.

The thing is, when it comes about "Please somebody think of the children!" attitude Europe is the exact opposite to the USA.

The Americans find violence (no matter how gruesome) okay but lady boobies will emotionally scar Timmy for the rest of his life. The Europeans however don't mind if little Johann likes to do Puff Puffs in a Dragon Quest game but believe any form of violence will make him a psycho killer.

But don't engage in Yellow Journalism, please. The statement "there are few" is fine. My search at the site yielded 35 titles. Blanketing "Fahrenheit" and "GTA" with the descriptor of "pornography" is disingenuous at best, and lazy at worst.

From the article:"Games that receive an AO rating from the ESRB will still be banned from the store in both regions, but very few games merit such a rating, and the ones that do are ***--->usually<---*** better classified as straight up pornography than real games."

But don't engage in Yellow Journalism, please. The statement "there are few" is fine. My search at the site yielded 35 titles. Blanketing "Fahrenheit" and "GTA" with the descriptor of "pornography" is disingenuous at best, and lazy at worst.

I don't know about Fahrenheit but san andreas got downrated to 17+ by esrb a looong time ago.

I happen to be the largest publisher of AO rated games for PCs outside of Japan (I run J-List and we license these games for sale to the tiny market that exists around the world). Of course all the changes and closing of Windows to my customers (RT at least) is of great ongoing concern.

I wonder how Microsoft will handle Japan itself actually, given the plethora of download services for adult (and the few non-ero) visual novels such as Getchu and DLSite. Most companies seem to allow explicit content in Japan even when they don't over here, so I wonder if MS will do something similar for the Japanese Metro store or if they'll just lock that down too.

This is stupid, even for Microsoft. How many of their OWN games are rated M? Heck, video games are the main reason I haven't totally gone Linux. Do they really want to lose that crowd more than they already are?

Don't all these app stores require a credit card to buy stuff? If you are old enough to take on credit card debt, surely you are old enough for AO games.

Unfortunately, all it takes is one parent who isn't paying attention to their credit cards with a kid who thinks the game title looks fun. Of course, this particular parent won't want to take responsibility for their own negligence either, which is when they sue Microsoft and accuse them of practically handing violent and/or pornographic games to children. -_-

Not that this excuses barring non-metro store apps from running on metro, but I can at least understand why they wouldn't want to risk AO games on their own stores. It's not so much "think of the children" as it is "think of the parents, the lawyers, and the potentially bad press."

As I said, I got the information directly from the ESRB, who is, I believe, the rating organization.

One part of a game, that isn't even accessible, does not make GTA porn."Atlas Shrugged" had a sex scene in it (which isn't accessible because no one watched it). Does that make *it* porn?

A chat application for hooking up with people is porn? So... OkCupid is porn? Is World of Warcraft porn? (The WoW reference is in anticipation of an "people can use OkC for porn" argument.)

Manhunt is porn? Ultraviolent, certainly, but sexually explicit? (I have not played this game, but the only sex references I could find in the game were of a tape of simulated sex with clothed figures and a bit in a strip club (to which I will ask if that's the threshold, then what about Duke Nukem 3D).)

So... please don't nitpick (with regard to calling out Hot Coffee). There are many nits.

Both you, and Kranki, and *especially* the article author, are missing the point. You through a broad brush around without benefit of going to the source.Less than half of the products that are rated "AO" are even games. How can less than half be "usually"?

Using poorly supported opinions in journalism is bad form.

edit:interesting that, if the threshold is +20, at a +22, my original comment was not highlighted.

America is filled with uptight prudes who need to ban anything sexual and sensual.

The thing is, when it comes about "Please somebody think of the children!" attitude Europe is the exact opposite to the USA.

The Americans find violence (no matter how gruesome) okay but lady boobies will emotionally scar Timmy for the rest of his life. The Europeans however don't mind if little Johann likes to do Puff Puffs in a Dragon Quest game but believe any form of violence will make him a psycho killer.

It differs immensely by country though I can't help thinking it's the healthier attitude. When I lived in Germany in the 90s, there was a TV ad with a couple having screaming sex and full on naked boobies bouncing all over the place.

America is filled with uptight prudes who need to ban anything sexual and sensual.

The thing is, when it comes about "Please somebody think of the children!" attitude Europe is the exact opposite to the USA.

The Americans find violence (no matter how gruesome) okay but lady boobies will emotionally scar Timmy for the rest of his life. The Europeans however don't mind if little Johann likes to do Puff Puffs in a Dragon Quest game but believe any form of violence will make him a psycho killer.

It differs immensely by country though I can't help thinking it's the healthier attitude. When I lived in Germany in the 90s, there was a TV ad with a couple having screaming sex and full on naked boobies bouncing all over the place.

It came on after the 8 o'clock news. The ad was for house paint.

I recall the same too when I was in Europe regarding sex and nudity being no big deal at all. It's still the same today

with no real conclusion. I guess it looks like they have clarified the issue *a bit* regarding PEGI 18.

But, there remains the equivalent issue about CERO-Z in Japan (which btw, is inconsistent with their other media)

And there are also other instances in which other countries are more liberal, like for example the German game, Lula 3D being rated age 16+ (USK ab 16) in Germany but AO in the US

Finally, not all ESRB-M games would be acceptable by Microsoft's own policies either, due to the ambiguous proscriptions on excessive violence, gore, offensive speech, and the unambiguous strict "no nudity" policy

America is filled with uptight prudes who need to ban anything sexual and sensual.

The thing is, when it comes about "Please somebody think of the children!" attitude Europe is the exact opposite to the USA.

The Americans find violence (no matter how gruesome) okay but lady boobies will emotionally scar Timmy for the rest of his life. The Europeans however don't mind if little Johann likes to do Puff Puffs in a Dragon Quest game but believe any form of violence will make him a psycho killer.

It differs immensely by country though I can't help thinking it's the healthier attitude. When I lived in Germany in the 90s, there was a TV ad with a couple having screaming sex and full on naked boobies bouncing all over the place.

It came on after the 8 o'clock news. The ad was for house paint.

A healthy attitude?

Many European nations aren't reproducing beyond replacement rate.

And just in the US, the religious right is growing in population, while the secular left is waning.

I happen to be the largest publisher of AO rated games for PCs outside of Japan (I run J-List and we license these games for sale to the tiny market that exists around the world). Of course all the changes and closing of Windows to my customers (RT at least) is of great ongoing concern.

Well, hopefully Microsoft doesn't allow AO rated material in the Japanese Windows Store as well just to keep things consistent. Otherwise, porting the game would mean changing it from running in Metro into running from the Desktop. Assuming the game is released for Metro in the first place.

From the article:"Games that receive an AO rating from the ESRB will still be banned from the store in both regions, but very few games merit such a rating, and the ones that do are ***--->usually<---*** better classified as straight up pornography than real games."

I highlighted a word in there for you.

Yeah, but I think the problem some readers have is that you are being dismissive of something that is kinda' important. Someone already pointed out that the list is small because releasing an AO game is already a problem. Now all AO games are banned from Modern/Metro. In Windows 9, if MS keeps the current rules, there'll be no way to install them on at all because they're going to ditch "desktop".

That should be considered a problem even if AO only meant "straight up pornography", but it doesn't. M!=R and AO!=NC17. If someone were to make the gaming equivalent of most of HBO and Showtime's lineup, they would all get AO ratings.

So, the main conduit for playing games on the PC is possibly set to stop any future games actually aimed squarely at adults from being played on their system.

I don't think things will play out exactly like that, but you have to agree that your statement could easily be viewed negatively by readers who've followed this issue, no? So why use such vitriolic sarcasm in the response? That wasn't so nice ...

I happen to be the largest publisher of AO rated games for PCs outside of Japan (I run J-List and we license these games for sale to the tiny market that exists around the world). Of course all the changes and closing of Windows to my customers (RT at least) is of great ongoing concern.

Well, hopefully Microsoft doesn't allow AO rated material in the Japanese Windows Store as well just to keep things consistent. Otherwise, porting the game would mean changing it from running in Metro into running from the Desktop. Assuming the game is released for Metro in the first place.

They still won't allow CERO-Z games (a more restrictive rating than ESRB-M), much less any game with nudity, so it's pretty much out of the question for Metro apps in Japan or elsewhere.

Clovis42 wrote:

That should be considered a problem even if AO only meant "straight up pornography", but it doesn't. M!=R and AO!=NC17. If someone were to make the gaming equivalent of most of HBO and Showtime's lineup, they would all get AO ratings.

So, the main conduit for playing games on the PC is possibly set to stop any future games actually aimed squarely at adults from being played on their system.

I don't think things will play out exactly like that, but you have to agree that your statement could easily be viewed negatively by readers who've followed this issue, no? So why use such vitriolic sarcasm in the response? That wasn't so nice ...

Yeah that's one thing I don't think most people or even MS understands: that the ratings are all different and there's no equivalence. Just about all of the movies, cable shows, (or anime) dealing with sex, whether "seriously" or lightly, ala erotic hijinks, would be immediately considered AO for games, despite the fact that the original work is NOT rated Adults-Only, and sometimes left un-rated for uncut home video versions, which *anyone* can legally purchase.

Furthermore, MS won't allow any depiction of drug use, offensive or perceived to be hateful speech, etc. Google play is currently the least restrictive and of course, you can always sideload apps in Android. Continuing full steam ahead with Metro, means Desktop mode--already treated like a second class citizen--will either be gone in future version, or left only for legacy apps where new features and system APIs are only available under Metro. And that means being stuck with MS App store

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area.